Police irked at vote to reduce inmate-realignment money

A proposal to reduce the amount of state money that local law-enforcement agencies will receive to cover local costs related to a recent overhaul of the California correctional system has drawn concern from some local police chiefs, who argue they are facing a costly burden because of the "inmate realignment" plan.

An Orange County committee tasked with divvying up the estimated $66.7 million in state money that will be allocated locally in the upcoming fiscal year for inmate "realignment" voted Thursday to reduce the funds set aside for local law enforcement to about 1 percent from about 3 percent.

The proposed budget would leave about $565,000 allocated to the local departments, less than the approximate $1.6 million the agencies were budgeted in the current fiscal year, and less than the approximate $692,000 they were allocated during the previous fiscal year.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors will have the final say on the local allocation of the state funds. But the prospect of getting less funding has angered some local police leaders, who characterized it as a "money grab" by the county.

The state funding is tied to an Assembly bill that paved the way for one of the largest changes in the history of the California justice system. The realignment involves moving convicted felons considered "nonviolent, nonserious and non-sex" offenders from state prisons to local jails, while also moving eligible offenders who have been released from state prison from state parole to county probation oversight.

Inmate realignment was intended to ease crowding at the state prison level, but officials also hoped that giving more responsibility to local law-enforcement agencies would help address a state recidivism rate that has hovered around 70 percent.

Critics, however, contend that inmate realignment allowed the cash-strapped state Legislature to save money by passing on the burden for "housing and supervising" repeat offenders to counties and cities.

Since the rollout of inmate realignment in October 2011, county and municipal law-enforcement agencies have worked closely to deal with a new inmate population and released offenders. The county probation department and Orange County's various municipal police agencies in particular have forged a close relationship to deal with inmate realignment. Probation and police officers routine work side-by-side to conduct home compliance checks or larger sweeps targeting those under supervision.

Before realignment took effect, the Orange County Community Corrections Partnership was formed to oversee the plan locally and decide how to carve up the state funds provided to cover realignment's local effects.

During recent and current fiscal years, the largest portion of the realignment funds, a little less than half, have been allocated to the Orange County Sheriff's Department, which runs local jails. These have seen significant increases in their inmate populations since realignment went into effect. Probation, which is supervising far more offenders after realignment's roll-out, has received around 25 percent of the funds each fiscal year.

On Thursday, a majority of the corrections partnership argued that a separate $1.4 million in Orange County law-enforcement funds earmarked in the state budget would cover the difference. However, local law-enforcement officials argue that the $1.4 million was not meant to cover realignment costs.

The question over how much state funding should go to local police agencies is complicated by a larger debate about realignment is affecting local crime.

Local police chiefs already facing budget cuts, a recession and a loss of redevelopment money to the state before realignment have pointed to increases in violent and property crime some cities have seen over the past year.

"They do their time in local custody, and then they are right back in the street again," said Garden Grove police Chief Kevin Raney, the local law-enforcement representative on the corrections partnership, said of inmates. "Local law enforcement is the front line."

However, authorities acknowledge that it's too early to say whether realignment is solely to blame for rising crime rates. Some members of the corrections partnership cited that uncertainty in not allocating more money to local law enforcement.

"It's really difficult to assess in a vacuum," said Frank Ospino, the representative for the public defenders' office. "What are local law enforcement's true trends?"

After voting down a compromise plan brought by Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas that would have left local law enforcement funding at 2 percent of the state funds, the corrections-partnership majority backed the 1 percent plan for local departments.

"I understand it, but I think it's a money grab," Raney said to the committee after the vote.

Tustin police Chief Scott Jordan, who heads the Orange County Chief of Police and Sheriff's Association, said the local departments will continue to collaborate with the county agencies, but that it was "unconscionable for the Orange County Community Corrections Partnership to recommend a cut in funding to local law enforcement at the risk of public safety."

Before the budget vote, Chief Probation Officer Steve Sentman, chairman of the corrections partnership, reflected on the difficulty in meeting the financial needs of all the various agencies in light of realignment.

"We all agree it is never enough money, never enough resources," Sentman said.